Holy freaking crap. This game is looking amazing._________________TheGiz> Am I the only one who likes to imagine that Elijah Wood's character in Back to the Future 2, the kid at the Wild Gunman machine in the Cafe 80's, is some future descendant of the AVGN?

FOREWORD: Playing off of PepsiRanger's suggestion, I am starting to pool together a presentable demo to send off to Hamsterspeak in the future. Granted, it's still going to take a while - two months at least - so don't get too excited. What this means is that I'm going to hold back on these updates so as not to spoil everything.

Today is a small update, but an important one nonetheless. I once read from a HamsterSpeak Issue about "The Mighty Fine NPC (and His Many Friends)". It was a good read and I recommend it to every game-maker who reads this.

What I learned was that it's a wholly positive thing to have lively NPCs. It adds more depth to any game than I can even imagine. And so, my NPC format suddenly changed.

I've already gotten a head start on this, and so I will share a few examples.

CARL
-Rigging Bluff, near roads
-Flavor text
-Grumbles about being an under-appreciated road worker; explains how his job is done (all he really does is lay down sandpaper.)
-Yellow safety helmet, five o'clock shadow, overalls.
*Stops to whack the road with a hammer.

SON WIL
-Rigging Bluff, outside the stables
-Gives a Longspear to a certain character
-Sleeps and only wakes up for a certain character to warn him about dangers lurking in the desert.
-Blonde bowl-cut, steel spaulders and vest, orange shirt and green pants
*Sleeps in the shade, sometimes stirs.

JENNIFER
-Rigging Bluff, near the north exit
-Gives a Care Package to a certain character
-Is obviously infatuated with a particular character, giving him her blessings and a rare revival item if spoken to.
-Long brown hair, white dress w/red accents, red flower brooch
*Stops to stretch and yawn.

Idle animation.

(For the most part, the animations will be 2 frames long, with 4 different directions. Jennifer is an exception.)

Jennifer's animation is one of the best I've seen in awhile. Nice work. And I like the list format you're using for defining your NPCs. Keeps things from being too random.

Since you're adding new life to your NPCs, I thought I'd point you in the direction of another HamsterSpeak article that I released just last month about animation. Attached to the article is a plotscript for one-line animation. Essentially, you add the animation script file to your "include" block at the top of the plotscript and from there you can write "hero animation" or "npc animation" and a series of numbers into your script and it'll animate each frame you designate (with added tricks if you call for them). It's not the least bit helpful if you're animating several people at once, but it's excellent for single-character manipulations. It'll save you a lot of plotscripting time in the long run.

It'll also keep your scripts nice and tight. You can literally condense as many as fifty lines or more into a single line. Again, the limitation lies with single animations. Multiple animations will still have to be spelled out until I rewrite it for script multitasking sometime down the road._________________Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Jennifer's animation is one of the best I've seen in awhile...
Since you're adding new life to your NPCs, I thought I'd point you in the direction of another HamsterSpeak article that I released just last month about animation.

I've probably been too quiet about this, but I greatly appreciate everyone's feedback, and especially the side-advice from Pepsi Ranger.
I'm quite clumsy when it comes to plotscripts - in the past, I never had enough material in-game to manipulate to really explore the potential of scripting things.
So all of these scripts you guys are throwing up in Hamsterspeak (and on a related note, the Moglery) - I thank you all, and I'll work my hardest to use them to better the gameplay experience of Viridia.

Notice:
The artist I was using for the 50x50 portraits (which I was planning to use to reveal important characters to this Journal) has been going through some sort of crisis, and I'm currently trying to decide what to do with her and the work she was supposed to do.

For the game, this of course means that there will be no portrait graphics until the dilemma is resolved.

He's an all-around idealist with a naive sense of justice that steadily hardens into a realistic view of the world and his role in it as the game progresses. He was orphaned at a young age and has an unusual upbringing (which I won't spoil here); his life has gotten more active ever since he met with a middle-aged hero and shady sellsword and created a mercenary company. He and his company obviously oppose the reigning governors, as the game begins with Krish breaking into the capitol's city hall.

Skills:
(+) Has high speed, accuracy, and luck
(+) Can use any sword, as well as common knives and bows
(+) Has good synergy* with almost every other character
(+) Has good endurance against dehydration
(-) Has low stamina and subpar strength
(-) Can only use light armor (cloth, leather)
(-) Knows no special techniques at first
(~) Can run outside of battle and jump across short gaps.

*About Synergy*
Synergy is an essence of friendship between certain characters as they converse and come to trust one another. They are triggered by staying at certain Inns with synergy partners in the party; before sleeping and recovering, the characters will have a conversation that reveals more information about them and their background. If multiple conversations (between 2 and 4) occur over time, the characters' abilities will be improved. A select few male-female couples can form and add more to the ending if they have maximum synergy.

On a technical note, the conversations will be done with a boatload of Text Boxes and Tags that play off, one by one, from an Inn script. As for the stat-boosting, I want a system that increases abilities only when synergy partners are in the main group of 4, but if this proves too difficult to script out, then it will be a one-time permanent boost to the characters' stats.

Some of you may be aware that this is very similar to the Support Conversations present in the Fire Emblem franchise. Viridia was originally going to be a Fire Emblem-like strategy RPG until I decided otherwise.

A self-proclaimed veteran of old, Ryo lends his aid to and the mercenary company, acting out the role of a father figure to the budding young hero and wisened warhorse to everyone else. He partners with to seek out when he goes missing, and begins to learn of the boy's mysterious past. He lends every ounce of protection he can to make sure the lad lives long.

Skills:
(+) High strength and skill, outstanding stamina
(+) Is one of the few characters able to wield hammers
(+) Can wear extremely heavy armor
(+) High resistance to dehydration
(+) Can use Guardian in battle to shield allies
(-) Low speed, luck, and magic defense
(-) Can only wield axes and hammers
(~) Later in the game, can cut down certain obstacles.

==========

Payton - The cynical and shady sellsword.

An expert fighter with an unknown history, he works silently and acts in his best interest. His motives are equally foggy, for no one quite knows why he's so interested in and why he utterly despises . One thing is for certain, he's a vicious swordsman with a love of money, so feel lucky he's on your side.

Skills:
(+) High strength, outstanding speed
(+) Can wield any sword or knife
(+) Can use powerful sword techniques in battle (costs money)
(+) Can Vanish to avoid attacks for a while in battle
(+) Very high dehydration endurance
(-) Below average skill and luck
(-) Can only wear light armor
(-) Can quickly drain your funds with his attacks
(~) Later, can hold an item to become impervious to sandstorm damage*

* - Sandstorms are a weather effect that deal damage much more rapidly than dehydration, making certain routes impassable without either Payton in the lead or a huge bundle of healing items. This is used to discourage players from entering high-leveled areas, and the storms gradually vanish as the story progresses.

Well, I'd suggest posting this in a more publicly viewed location. That's a pretty bad problem.
Also, be sure to keep lots of back-ups in the future. (I had about 6 when I was working on my last porject)

I do happen to have a backup, but it's several months old and lacks most of the updates I've sent to this journal. Almost all of the NPC walkabouts and map data will be lost.
I dread using it, but I shall if I must.

Hopefully you didn't lose them. But if you did, there is one saving grace: You posted enough screenshots of towns and NPCs on here that you could copy/paste them into a paint program and extract the graphics you need to rebuild. Might save you a lot of time._________________Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.